Bearing adjustment.



N0. 669,436. Patented Mar. |9Ul.,

V w. H. &'H. T. CLDWELL.

BEARING ADJUSTMENT.

(Application led Oct. 25, 1900.) (No Model.)

Il Il l mlm-umm UNiTnD STATES PATENT WILLIAM I-I. COLDWELL AND HARRY T.COLDWELL, OF NEWBURG,

NEW YORK.

BEARING ADJUSTNI ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,436, dated March 5,1901.

Application led October 25, 1900. Serial No. 34,288. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. COLD- WELL and HARRY T. CoLDwnLL,citizens of the United States, residingat Newburg, in the county ofOrange and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bearing Adjustments for La wn-Mowers; and we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention is an improvement in adj usting mechanism for lawn-mowerbearings; and

it consists in the novel features hereinafter' is a view showing theparts of the adjusting mechanism detached. Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig. 2, showing a slight modification of our invention.

The object of our invention is to provide a cheap, strong, and efficientmeans for adjusting the ball-bearings of the rotary cutter of alawn-mower.

In the drawings, A represents the mowerframe, which is of usualconstruction and is provided with two side frames a a.

B represents the stationary knife; C, the bail D, the handle; E, theroller, and F F the driving-wheels which operate the rotary cutter. Therotary cutter in this instance consists of two spiders Gr G, the arms ofwhich are riveted to the spiral blades g. Each spider is provided with ashaft or trunnion g', which extends through an aperture a in theadjacent side frame at and is provided with a pinion g2, driven from oneof the driving-wheels F F in the usual manner. Each side plate a isprovided with a bearing-cup H, concentric with the aperture a' in theframe d, and we prefer to provide each side frame with a circular iiangea2, concentric with said aperture a', forming a socket to rei ceive thesaid cup H, as shown. One of the trunnions g is provided with a Xed coneg3, engaging one of the cups H, and the other trunnion H is providedwith an adjustable cone g4. (Shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3.) Thiscone g4 is provided with a central aperture g5, which its the trunniong', and also with a threaded aperture gs, having its aXis parallel tothe axis of said trunnion. The cone g4 is also pro vided with a radialthreaded aperture 97 to receive a set-screw I, which is adapted to passthrough the cone and engage the trunnion g'.

The spider G adjacent to the adjustable cone is provided with a threadedaperture g8, so arranged that its axis will coincide with the axis ofthe aperture g6 when the cone is turned so as to bring the two aperturesinto line, but of greater diameter than the said aperture Q6.

K represents a double-acting adjustingscrew having twooppositely-threaded parts lo and Zt of dierent diameters, the part kbeing adapted to screw into the aperture Q6 of the cone, and the largerpart, k', being adapted to screw into the aperture g8, as shown. Thescrew K is provided with a nick in its head, as shown, (or with apolygonal head,) so that it can be turned.

L represents the balls, which are interposed between the cups H and thecones g4.

To adjust the bearings of the rotary knife, the set-screw I is loosened,and the adjustingscrew K is turned to move the adj ustable cone towardor away from its cup H, thereby adjusting both of the bearingssimultaneously. The screw K will move the cone in either direction, anda very slight rotation of the screw will move the cone a considerabledistance.

As the screw K engages the cone at one side v of its center, it may havea tendency to twist the cone slightly upon the shaft. The set- IOO andalso the exterior of the trunnion this will correct any tendency of theadjusting-screw K to throw the cone g4 out of line.

We prefer to form the shaft or trunnion g with an inclined or beveledportion t beneath the set-screw I, as shown in Fig. 2, so arranged thatthe engagement of the screw With the said beveled portion i Will tend tothrow the cone outward on the shaft, and thus cause it to act like ajam-nut on the adjusting-screw K. This prevents the possibility of thescrew K turning accidentally While the mower is in use.

In some cases we may dispense with the aperture g(i in the cone andemploy an ordinary adjusting-screw with a single thread passing throughthe spider, as shown in Fig. 4. In this figure, G represents thespider;G2, the rotary-cutter shaft; M, the cone; N, the adjusting-screw; O, theset-screw, and P the cup.

In Figs. 1 and 2 We have shown the spiders of the rotary cutter formedintegrally with the trunnions g g; but it is obvious that they may bemounted upon and secured to a shaft extending across the machine andhaving its ends projecting beyond the spiders to form the trunnions.Such a construction is indicated in Fig. 4, Where the shaft G2 passesthrough the spiders, which are secured to the shaft by setscrews, asindicated at G3.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An adjusting device for bearings comprising among its members, abearing-cup, a rotary part provided with an adjustable cone, anadjusting-screw passing through said rotary part and engaging said coneat one side of its center, and a set-screw extending radially throughsaid cone atan angle to a plane passing through the centers of said coneand adjusting screw and engaging said rotary part, substantially asdescribed.

2. An adjusting device for bearings comprising among its members, arotary part, a bearing-cone adjustable longitudinally thereon, a singleadj Listing-screw having a threaded portion engaginga threaded aperturein a partconnected Wit-h said rotary part, and a reversely-threadedportion engaging a th readed aperture in said cone at one side of itscenter, and a set-screw extending through a radial threaded aperture insaid cone, substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through thecenters of said cone and said adjusting-screw, substantially asdescribed.

3. An adjusting device for bearings comprising among its members,abearing-cup, a rotary shaft, a cone loosely mounted thereon and providedWith a threaded aperture having its axis parallel with the axis of thecone, a rotating part secured to said shaft provided with a threadedaperture, a single adjustingscrew having reversely-threaded vportionsengaging said aperturesin the rotating part and in said cone and aset-screw extending radially through said cone at an angle to a planepassing through the centers of the cone and the adjusting-screw thereinparallel to said `axis, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We affix our signa- -tures in the presence of tWoWitnesses.

WILLIAM H. OOLDWELL. HARRY T. COLDWELL. Witnesses:

HOWARD THORNTON, WILLIAM J. WYGANT.

